Energy transport in diffusion-wave fields is gradient driven and therefore diffuse, yielding depth-integrated responses
with poor axial resolution. Using matched-filter principles, we propose a methodology enabling these parabolic
diffusion-wave energy fields to exhibit energy localization akin to propagating hyperbolic wave-fields. This not only
improves the axial resolution, but also allows for deconvolution of individual responses of superposed axially discrete
sources, opening a new field of depth-resolved subsurface thermal coherence tomography using diffusion waves. The
depth resolved nature of the developed methodology is verified through experiments carried out on phantoms and
biological samples. The results suggest that thermal coherence tomography can resolve deep structural changes in hard
dental and bone tissues. The sensitivity of the developed diagnostic imaging system is compared to that of polarized
Raman spectroscopy.